Chapter 18: Long Nights
Marcus sighed softly as he packed his and Haruhi's things, making sure to grab her tanuki and the stuffed crawdad as he checked his phone repeatedly. They had twelve hours until their flight and just a few more until the hospital discharged her. Hopefully, the flight would go smoothly.
"Marcus," Mori said from the doorway.
"Hey, what's up, Takashi?" he asked, not looking up at his friend as he continued to fumble around the room.
Mori put an understanding hand on Marcus's shoulder. "You're scared, man," he said quietly. "You're worrying about Haruhi."
"It seems like she's gettin' weaker the further along she gets…"
"Haruhi will be ok," Mori said. "She's a strong, stubborn tanuki, she won't let anything like this take her from this world," he said. "She's been through worse...she was thrown off a cliff and landed in the water back in high school and survived that...she's jumped from a moving carriage and survived. She'll survive this."
"Wait, she what?" Marcus turned to Mori. "Why the fuck did she jump from a movin' carriage?"
"To save the host club," Mori said. "Tamaki was leaving Japan with some girl, and she chased after them….she sort of fell out of the carriage, and Tamaki caught her, and they both fell over the bridge at Ouran and landed in the water."
Marcus shook his head. "That crazy assed wife of mine." He sighed and patted Mori on the shoulder before he started walking over to the closet. His friend watched him walk before he tripped over his feet and fell.
"You need to sit down," Mori said, walking over to Marcus and helping him up. "You can't pack anything on an empty stomach either...I'll call the maids to bring us dinner...everyone else is still at the venue trying to sort out the mess your rabbit sister caused."
"I'll be fine; I'm not hungry right now," Marcus said as he waved Mori off.
"You need to eat; you'll be no good to Haruhi if you don't," Mori said. "I assumed you ate dinner with Haruhi earlier...unless you didn't, come on, I'll have them make anything you want...even meat dishes... "
Marcus laughed softly. "I just pushed the food around on the plate to make it look like I was eatin'. I probably can't keep anythin' down."
"Why not?" Mori asked curiously. "Are you that worried? Marcus listen to all of us worry about our girls and children. I'm worried that Noriko might be born with Muireann's condition."
"Yeah, but at least the both of them will still be with you. The doctor just told me Haruhi's at high risk now."
Mori went silent before glancing at Marcus as he pulled his phone out. "I'll call some more doctors to help Haruhi when you go back to Japan."
"You ain't gotta do that…"
"I want to help," Mori said. "You are my...ahem...best friend….and Haruhi's important to me too...if I didn't help her, I'd blame myself for not being able to help her when needed."
Marcus chuckled softly. "Best friend, huh? Thanks, man…" he shook his head with a small sigh. "Go ahead, then."
"And you need to take care of yourself too," Mori said. "You'll waste away, and I doubt Haruhi will want to bury a husband so soon."
"Alright, alright, I'll eat somethin'."
Mori nodded and walked to the door. "I'll let the maids know," he said. "Unless you want me to call Kaoru to come here and make something...that ginger does need to relax, and cooking helps….hey, how about we make it a host dinner? All of the guys can help. we all can tell you stories about Haruhi too."
Marcus sighed quietly. "I ain't good company right now, so if you wanna go ahead."
Mori shook his head. "It'll be you, Kaoru and me," he said. "We're the mature ones in the band of idiots...aside from Haruhi."
Marcus gave a small laugh. "Yeah, if Suoh even heard half of this, he'd be in Haruhi's room buggin' her non-stop."
"True." Mori laughed and walked out of the room as he began to call Kaoru to cook and join them for dinner.
"Haruchi, you'll be ok, I promise," Jenny said, brightly hugging her. "I asked Chi-Chi to join us in here, and best of all, we can talk about Marky."
Haruhi sighed. "Usada, I don't feel like talking…" she whispered. "I just want to sleep...I'm sorry I'm not company."
"It's ok, don't worry," Jenny said. "You're tired, and the baby tanukis are tired too. They're both excited to be born, but they're tired too like you are."
Haruhi nodded. "Yeah…" she sat up slowly and sighed. "Hey Usada...can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure," Jenny said. "Do you want me to sneak you some candy? I can get it cause Kenji and Lottie are both outside in the waiting room talking on their phones."
"Will you take care of Marcus if something...happens to me?" Haruhi asked. "I don't think he'd survive losing me...if something did happen."
"Haruchi…" Jenny teared up. "Don't say that! You won't die! You can't cause the baby tanukis need you, and Marky does too. you'll be fine!"
"Usada, promise me!" Haruhi said, putting her hands on Jenny's shoulders. "If I die, you have to take care of Marcus for me!"
"Haruchi…" Jenny sniffled and hugged her as she began to cry. "You can't die! Don't leave us! Haruchi!"
Haruhi sighed and hugged the small idol as she looked up and saw China in the doorway. "China-chan…" she gasped when the girl hugged her as well. "You heard me…?"
"Of course I did, Bun-Bun's is loud when she's upset," China said softly. "Sweetcheeks, you and the babies are gonna be fine, and all three of you are gonna be here to take care of Crawdad cause lord knows he ain't gonna take care of himself."
"But…I'm high risk right now," Haruhi said softly. "I'm putting my affairs in order in case...I do die…"
"You won't die," Jenny insisted and cried more. "If you die, then Marky will and if he does so will Chi-Chi and me."
Haruhi sighed more but nodded. "You're right...I probably won't die. If I did...Marcus would do everything he can to ensure I come back."
"You need to rest, ok?" Jenny asked. "And don't worry so much about death, cause if you keep thinking that way you might die...Chi-Chi and I will help Marky, ok? We know a lot of nice doctors who can help us and Ayame's the best, and if you want, I can ask Yuu to help too cause he's the best doctor in Japan."
"Girls…" Haruhi went silent but nodded. "Ok...I'll do what I can to live...now, you two can stop crying, I rather not explain to the doctors how China-chan's tears froze my sheets and Usada's wails broke machines."
China sniffled as she wiped her eyes. "Fine, fine...but you gotta promise you'll let us help take care of you. Mommy will be glad to live with y'all until the twins come."
"I don't want to be a burden on anyone," Haruhi said. "You two have jobs...your mom has a job...I'll be fine with Marcus, and I can take care of myself."
"You won't be, ok?" Jenny forced a smile. "I can help out during the day cause I don't have anything to do. I cleared my whole concert schedule, and I doubt I'll get any new songs done if I worry, and Chi-Chi's going to be around a lot too cause she can't go back to her job at the salon. After all, Hikachu said he doesn't want her to work til Toki-doki's born."
"And Mommy works from home. She can hack anything as long as she has a stable internet connection and can access her VPN." China waved a hand. "You're family Sweetcheeks and family takes care of family."
Haruhi nodded quietly. "Ok...thanks girls." she smiled softly. "For what it's worth...I am glad you two are my sisters."
"Of course, we're the best damn sisters you could ever ask for." China laughed softly.
"And you'll always have us," Jenny said. "And you can snuggle me anytime you want, ok? Cause I want you happy like Chi-roly-poly."
Haruhi laughed. "Alright," she said.
"Marcus, you haven't eaten in days," Kaoru noticed how Marcus was eating nearly everything he made. "Why the hell did you starve yourself?"
"I was worried about Haruhi," Marcus said softly as he put his fork down.
"That's still no excuse to starve yourself," Kaoru said. "But I can understand how you feel to see the woman you love in the condition she's in, but she's been worse."
"Yeah, we've almost lost her once or twice...I'm sure she told you about the peanut butter cup ice cream incident?" Mori asked with a small snort. "She was insane for doing it."
"She almost did it again the last time Ramsey over here held a dinner," Marcus said with a shake of his head.
"Haruhi can be crazy," Kaoru snorted. "She's done a lot more than any of us have done...she jumped off a high pillar to beat the boss's ass for telling everyone she needed canned food."
"I believe it." Marcus laughed softly.
"And one time she tried to fight two guys," Mori said. "It scared the hell out of us...that was a reason why she nearly died...because she's like a small corgi...who has a bark bigger than her bite."
Kaoru picked up a giant devil's food cake he had made and sat it on the table. "And you also don't need to worry about Haruhi, and you have Ayame Jounouchi as her doctor. She's the best of the best, even if old morse code lady talks in long-winded explanations when explaining about health."
Marcus laughed. "She's been direct with us since the beginning."
"Seriously?" Kaoru laughed. "I'm surprised...guess she grew up...but in all seriousness, we know Ayame well. She went to high school with us. so did half of her medical staff."
"You don't need to worry about anything," Mori added. "Those girls wouldn't let Haruhi die or get permanently injured because they love her."
"I know, I know. It just sucks knowin' that I can't help her get through this."
"You can. You need to be there for her."
Kaoru and Mori turned to the door and saw the other hosts standing there. They all had their cell phones in hand or in the case of Hikaru talking on it.
"Yo, you guys showed up for what reason?" Kaoru asked. "I thought you were with the girls."
"We heard about Haruhi," Tamaki said softly. "We all decided to call our family's doctors to see if they could help."
"How the hell did you hear about this Suoh?"
"Your sisters called Sally."
"Idiots." Marcus sighed softly.
"Why didn't you tell us, Mark-chan?" Honey asked.
"Because I didn't want y'all to be popping up in her room while she's trying to get some rest."
"We wouldn't have bugged her," Hikaru said. "We care about Haruhi too much to bug her...she's only been hospitalized once before this, and we nearly lost our shit because we were so scared…"
"That was during our last year of high school, right?" Kaoru asked. "Haruhi had gotten a nasty cold and was in the hospital for a week."
"Back then, we all couldn't do anything," Hikaru said softly. "But now we can...we can hire specialists to look after our tanuki."
"For now, my brother's going to be assisting Ayame-chan," Kyouya said. "Yuuichi will be waiting at the airport for Marcus and Haruhi."
"Fine," Marcus looked at his phone. "She's gettin' discharged at ten, and our flight leaves at one."
"You guys are taking a commercial flight?" Tamaki asked. "That won't do...Kyouya call your family's private jet and tell them to prepare it for early take off at eleven…. Hikaru and Kaoru tell your wives to tell the girls to pack our things. Mori-senpai make sure a car's waiting at the airport in Japan for Marcus and Haruhi to go to the hospital when they get there."
"What about me, Tama-chan?" Honey asked.
"You go eat cake," Tamaki said simply.
Honey pouted. "Why do I always got to eat cake? I have a Ph.D. in aeronautics and engineering…"
Marcus shook his head. "You guys should enjoy the last of your vacation."
"We wouldn't be able to," Tamaki admitted. "We'd be too worried about Haruhi."
"Face it, man, you're stuck with us," Mori said with a small smile. "Since you married Haruhi, you're an honorary host."
"Even if you haven't charmed girls yet."
"Hikaru shut up!" the hosts shouted in unison.
"What we're saying is that you're part of our family now," Kaoru said brightly. "Think of us as brothers who want to protect our little sister."
"We're a few months younger than Haruhi and-." Hikaru began before he held his head after being hit with Tamaki's bag. "Oww, what the hell!?"
"Shut up!" Tamaki ordered before looking at Marcus. "We'll help you with anything, Marcus, we want you and Haruhi to be together forever."
"Not even two weeks ago, you tried to hogtie my ass for "defiling" Haruhi."
"You're not going to forget that are you?"
"Nope."
"Grudge holder…" the hosts said in unison.
Haruhi blinked as she stared at Marcus. "Everyone's leaving?" she cried. "They're going back with us?"
"They said they wouldn't enjoy the rest of the vacation without us." Marcus shook his head. "I tried to get them to stay."
Haruhi teared up and began to cry softly. "Those idiots…" she looked up at Marcus. "Those idiots always do this...they know I'll be fine but they don't want me to be left out...Marcus...I hate them...but I love them too...damn it."
Marcus wrapped his arms around her with a smile as he kissed the top of her head. "Shh, it's just because these idiots love you."
"I know…" Haruhi sniffled before she smiled up at him and lifted her arm to show him the bracelet with the tanukis on it. "Your sisters gave me this…"
"It's cute," he smiled as he rubbed her back.
"They said it's because I am a part of the family now," Haruhi laughed. "It's kind of cute...even if they don't know that a Chupacabra's a Mexican myth."
"No, they do." Marcus laughed as he kissed her. "One of our Granmere's friend, a nice lady from Mexico, called China a chupacabra because of her temper tantrum she was havin' one day."
Haruhi laughed. "What? I always assumed you call her that as a pet name after it was an insult." she snorted. "And let me guess Usada's named Bunny because she used to jump around?"
"Whenever she wanted my attention, she would grab my pants leg and hop after me."
Haruhi began laughing. "How cute!" she laughed. "I hope our dranukis are as happy and energetic as their aunts."
"Oh, they're gonna be happy, healthy and chubby as all hell." Marcus laughed softly as he kissed Haruhi's forehead. "Mm, you almost ready to get on the flight?"
"Yes," Haruhi said. "Commercial flights are gonna be a pain."
"Actually...Ootori's family's jet is gonna come and pick us up."
"One of Senpai's jets?!" Haruhi cried. "Why didn't you say no? He'll add it to my debt! Wait, no...this isn't high school...ok, that's fine."
Marcus laughed softly. "It's better if you think about it. It has a bed so you can lay down instead of sittin' up the whole trip."
"Ok…" Haruhi looked up at Marcus and kissed him gently before yawning. "Let's go now...I want to go back home."
"Marcus," Haruhi said softly as she laid down and looked over at him, they had gotten on the plane and were on their way to Japan. She had spent half of the flight talking to the others, and she could've sworn that Cellie had somehow figured out a way to get the other babies to move around kicking when the girls all talked.
"Yeah, Baby Girl?" Marcus asked with a small yawn. He looked up at her, putting his glasses on to see her.
"You're still reading?" Haruhi asked, snuggling up to him. "You haven't said anything to anyone since we got on the plane."
"Mm," he smiled as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. "I've been readin' one of the books Ma had given me before we left Japan."
"Oh...that's nice." Haruhi leaned against his shoulder and began to fall asleep again. She smiled softly and put a hand on her stomach. "I love all of you."
"We love you too." Marcus kissed her forehead and put a pillow on his lap. "Come on, lay down, and get some rest."
Haruhi nodded and laid down on her side and closed her eyes again as she curled up against him with a small smile. Marcus smiled down at her, running his hand through her hair before he continued to read his book.
"Mark-chan," Mimi said softly. "Oh nevermind Haru-chan's sleeping, I'll come back when she's up."
"What did you want, Kit?"
"We wanted to see if you wanted to watch the movie with us," Mimi said. "We're gonna eat cake too!"
"Nah, I'm fine. If you can bring me another water, though, that'll be great."
Mimi nodded. "Ok, Mark-chan," she said, going to grab a bottle of water.
Haruhi shifted and sat up as she made a face. "Marcus...I don't feel Cellie or Ryoji moving."
"Hm? Are you sure?" Marcus asked Haruhi as he set his book down.
"I'm sure...they usually are up at this time of day," Haruhi said softly.
"You said they were active earlier; maybe they're just tired," Marcus said. "The time change probably got to them too."
Haruhi sighed. "Are you sure? I'm worried."
"I'm sure you should get some rest too," Marcus told Haruhi as he gently laid her back down and rubbed her stomach in circles.
Haruhi nodded and fell asleep again as she sighed softly, she curled up to Marcus more and tried to take her mind off of Cellie and Ryoji not moving. Marcus leaned down and kissed the side of her head before he sat up and started to sing to her again as he ran his fingers against her scalp.
Both Cellie and Ryoji woke up and began to move around as they started to kick Haruhi, trying to wake her back up. Haruhi smiled in her sleep and cuddled Marcus more. He laughed softly, still singing to her as he leaned back in his seat. He could feel his eyes getting heavy and suddenly began to realize that it had been days since he had gotten any amount of rest.
Haruhi held him to her and whispered. "Sleep now…"
"Okay, okay…" Marcus yawned before closing his eyes.
"Marcus-san, I can't look over Haruhi if you keep getting in the way," Ayame said, rolling her eyes. "Could you wait outside?"
"Huh, outside?" Marcus looked down at Ayame. "I can be still and out of your way."
Ayame nodded. "Ok." she began examining Haruhi as she noticed that the small lawyer wasn't swiping at her or even telling her to leave her alone. "Haruhi, you're not yourself."
"I'm tired," Haruhi said softly. "I want to go home...don't keep me here long, you butcher."
Ayame wrote something on a chart before she walked out of the room to talk to the other doctor she had asked to help assist her.
"Marcus, after this, let's go home, and I'll make dinner," Haruhi yawned. "I'll make your favorites."
"No, you need to rest, I'll be fine," Marcus told her.
Ayame walked back in with the other doctor. "Marcus-san and Haruhi-san, I'd like to introduce you to Yuuichi Ootori. He's going to be assisting me."
"We came to a decision," Yuuichi said. "Haruhi-san, you're to remain on bed rest for the rest of your pregnancy to prevent early delivery as you have a risk for placental abruption."
"Placental abruption? What's that?"
"It's when the placenta partially or completely separates from the uterus before your children's birth," Yuuichi explained. "If it were to separate. we'd have to perform a c-section on Haruhi-chan to save the children and her."
"But we're going to prevent it," Ayame said. "As long as Haruhi stays on bedrest and doesn't do anything to cause it, then they'll be fine."
"You're messing with me," Haruhi said softly. "My children are fine, and there is no way that will happen."
"Haruhi, you're high risk," Ayame said gently. "It's the same thing your mother had...we looked into your family records, and we saw that your mother had the same thing when she was pregnant with you."
Haruhi glared at the doctors and didn't say anything more before she curled up against Marcus's chest.
"We'll do all we can, Marcus," Ayame promised.
Marcus nodded quietly. "Haruhi," he started softly as he looked down at her. "You gotta do this..."
Haruhi nodded quietly and sniffled. "Ok…"
Marcus leaned down and kissed her softly. "Everything's gonna be okay."
Haruhi nodded. "Ok…" she said softly.
"One more thing Marcus…" Ayame said. "In case we do need to...perform a c-section, we might need you to sign a few papers so you can consent to letting us go through with it."
"Yeah, sure…"
Ayame led him out of the room and shut the door. "I know how hard it is for new fathers to do this." She said softly. "But I swear to you I won't let anything happen to Haruhi-chan and...ah Marcus-san are you ok?!"
Marcus shook his head as he felt his legs fall from under him. He slid to the floor, hiding his face in his hands as he cried into them.
Ayame walked over to him and knelt in front of him. "It'll be ok…" She said. "I won't lose her or your children, and you have to trust me...they will be ok."
Marcus nodded as he sniffled, though he felt himself start to cry harder.
Ayame sighed and hugged him. "It'll be ok...I promise…" she glanced at him again and helped him up. "Marcus-san, look at me."
"What?" he asked softly.
"I am not going to let Haruhi or your children die," Ayame said. "You need to trust me. I will take care of them. I won't let them die. I have never let a patient die on me, and I am not going to start, ok?"
"Yeah, okay…" Marcus said softly as he sniffled and wiped his eyes.
"You need to be strong for them," Ayame said. "You're the person that Haruhi-chan can depend on. Those two babies she has are your children, and you will get to see and hold them."
Marcus nodded quietly as he leaned against the wall. Ayame watched the usually calm and composed young man shift and rub the back of his neck, all the while not maintaining eye contact with her.
Ayame shook her head. "Marcus...you can go be with Haruhi," she said gently. "Take her home and take care of her. I'll send you the papers over and have my receptionist give you my home phone number."
"Okay…" Marcus walked past her and back into the room. "Ready to go, babe?" he asked softly.
"Yeah," Haruhi looked at him. "Are you ok?" She asked softly. "You look upset."
"Yeah, no, I'm gonna be fine," Marcus promised her as he helped her sit up. "Come on, let's get you home."
Haruhi nodded. "Ok...um…" she put a hand to his cheek. "You've been crying."
Marcus kissed her forehead. "I'll tell you when we get home," he told her softly.
Haruhi nodded. "Ok." She looked up at him again and kissed him gently. "I love you."
"I love you too."
The ride home was long and quiet. Haruhi would look over at Marcus and see him wipe his face every so often.
"Marcus...I did some thinking…" Haruhi whispered. "I want to name our son...something else..I want him to have a name that you choose for him."
Marcus looked down at her in surprise when they pulled into the driveway. "You sure?"
"Yes," Haruhi said softly. "I want you to name our son….I mean, he doesn't feel like a Ryoji anymore."
Marcus laughed softly. "I was gonna suggest the name Torrian."
"Torrian? That's a nice name." Haruhi said. "Our Torrian Marcus Sakurai...unless you don't want him to have a middle name...but rather a single name?"
"Marcus, huh?" Marcus smiled at her softly. "I like Torrian Marcus."
Haruhi nodded. "Yes...two names that are strong for our son." She kissed him gently. "I promise our children will grow up to be strong like their handsome, wonderful, and intelligent father. I promise we'll grow old together."
She saw Marcus smile, his gaze soft like it was when they got married. He took her face in his hands, kissing her softly. She could feel warm tears fall on her cheeks; the longer he held the kiss.
Haruhi pulled away from him. "Marcus…" She whispered. "You're crying…"
"No, I'm not…" he lied softly.
Haruhi laughed. "You are." she kissed him gently. "It's ok to cry, my beloved. You can't be the tough physical education teacher all the time."
Marcus laughed softly as he pulled her into a tight hug and buried his face in the crook of her neck.
"Hey, hey, we'll be fine," Haruhi said gently. "A stubborn worrisome dragon told me that resting would help, and we'll have healthy and happy children."
Marcus laughed softly. "Did he also tell you thank you for everything?"
Haruhi nodded. "Yes...and he shows me his thanks with every kiss, hug, and whisper of his love for me."
"He wouldn't be a good husband, if he didn't do those things."
"And I'd have to kill him." Haruhi smiled. "Come on, let's go inside now...I want to spend a little time with my husband and maybe even eat his cabbage rolls."
Marcus laughed softly and kissed Haruhi again. "As many cabbage rolls that you want." He smiled as he got out of the car, walked around the other side to help her out of it.
Haruhi looked up at Marcus again and smiled. "And maybe some mac and cheeseburgers? Torrian wants to eat that."
"And what does Cellie want to eat?"
Haruhi smiled. "The cabbage rolls, of course," she said. "And also...oh...I think I hear music from down the street."
"Oh? Do you want to go see what it is, or do you wanna lay down while I cook?"
Haruhi looked at him. "I wanna go see what it is," she said with a small smile.
"For five minutes." Marcus smiled down at her as he picked her up and started to carry her towards the music.
"Hey, you guys!" Kaoru said brightly. "Came to join the special concert that Buns is putting on to make up for the one she messed up in Rome? She said it's private for us."
"We didn't know anythin' about the concert, and Haruhi was about to lay down…"
"You sure?" Kaoru said, pointing to Haruhi, who was curled up against Marcus's chest singing along with Jenny.
"Haruchi and Marky!" Jenny called out laughing as she began singing a song she wrote for the both of them.
Marcus shook his head and smiled, sitting down and holding Haruhi in his arms. Haruhi smiled softly as she listened to the song. She looked up at Marcus a moment and whispered in his ear.
"Usada wrote about you, and I's love." She smiled and cuddled him.
Marcus smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I figured." He rubbed her back as he kissed her cheek and nuzzled it with his nose.
"Awww!"
Haruhi smiled softly and kissed Marcus again before leaning against his chest again. She felt happy to be in his arms and felt equally happy; her friends were there to support them.
Haruhi laughed. "Marcus, you sure you're not mad. I asked you to stay for the whole little show?" she asked, snorting. "I didn't think Usada would go through her whole album list."
"No, I'm fine. It's a good thing you got to see her before you go on bed rest."
Haruhi smiled. "Yeah…" she said softly. "But it's not like I won't see the others again, they're going to visit me every day...Mori-senpai said he'll help me with my homework for law school, Honey-senpai's going to send me pictures from space, and Kaoru's going to cook for us."
Marcus laughed softly. "And Ma's gonna come by during the day to take care of you while I'm at work."
Haruhi nodded. "I think your sisters said they're going to come over and help me with a few things, I forgot what it was…" she snorted. "I hope it's not yoga or anything."
"Whatever it is, make sure China doesn't let Bunny near the washing machine…or the dishwasher."
Haruhi blinked. "Why?" she snorted.
"Because she'll flood the whole house if she does." Marcus chuckled softly as he sat Haruhi in bed.
Haruhi looked up at him. "Oh…" she placed a hand on his cheek. "Marcus, are you going to sleep tonight?"
"I don't know, probably not."
"Please sleep," Haruhi said, pulling him into bed with her. "I want you to sleep with me...you're warm and soft."
Marcus smiled as he rubbed her back gently. "Okay, okay." He kissed her gently as he leaned his head on the pillow and looked at her.
Haruhi smiled. "Good night, my beloved." she kissed him again gently.
"I'm sorry, Marcus, but we lost them…" Ayame said softly. "I did all I could. I'm so sorry. you can say your goodbyes to Haruhi now."
"What?! You promised that they would be fine! You said you never lost a patient!"
"I'm sorry…" Ayame said softly. "I tried to save her but...she didn't come back….your children died after she did."
"You lyin' bitch!" Marcus screamed while glaring at Ayame.
Ayame turned away and walked away from Marcus to check on her other patients, after telling Marcus again to say his goodbyes to Haruhi. Marcus glared after her before he entered the room.
Haruhi was lying on the table with her face covered with a sheet, and next to the table was a small bed where two babies lay.
Upon seeing them, Marcus shook his head and ran to leave, but the door slammed in his face. He sighed and stayed by the door, finding his breathing growing short and rapid.
"Marcus...wake up….Marcus!" Haruhi's voice called out.
"No...no…" he gasped out.
"MARCUS!" Haruhi slapped him across the face. "Wake up!" Hey!"
Marcus shot up in bed and held his chest as he kept wheezing. Haruhi gasped and grabbed the inhaler from the side of the bed in the drawer, and handed it to him.
"It's ok...it's ok...Marcus, it's ok." Haruhi said softly.
He took the inhaler, taking two pumps of it before sighing shakily. Haruhi held him tightly and kissed him gently.
"It's ok...it's ok…"
"You were dead...all of you were…" he said softly as he hugged her tightly and began feeling feverishly to make sure she was real.
Haruhi blinked. "Marcus...we're fine...our children are fine." she winced. "You woke them up, and they're scared now."
"Sorry...sorry…" he whispered as he let go of her and leaned forward. He ran a hand through his hair and took long, shaky breaths.
"It's ok...shhh…" Haruhi held him tightly and kissed him gently. "We're ok...we won't leave you."
"I know…" he whispered.
Haruhi laid back down as she pulled him into her arms and smiled softly. She ran her hands through his hair and spoke to him soothingly in Japanese and English. She felt him ease as he buried his face into her chest.
"I'll never leave you, I promise," Haruhi whispered as she fell asleep again, holding him close.
Marcus sighed softly, holding her close before falling asleep to the feeling of the babies moving against his stomach.
"Professor Sakurai, good morning, are you…?" one of the other professors stared in shock at Marcus, sleeping at his desk. "Are you ok? Professor Sakurai!"
Marcus groaned softly, looking up at the professor with a tired sigh. "Hoshizuka...what can I do for you?" he asked with a tired yawn.
"I came to ask if you wanted to join us for lunch," Hoshizuka looked at Marcus. "You look tired. Maybe you should go home early? I can cover your classes for you."
Marcus shook his head and stood shakily. "No, I'm fine…" he walked over to the coat rack and grabbed his jacket. He slipped the fabric on his arms and shoulders and turned to face Hoshizuka. "See...I'm fine-" Marcus stopped walking and passed out at the door.
"Professor Sakurai!" Hoshizaki caught him before she dragged him to the couch in the room and called the school's nurse.
Marcus woke up to a bright light over his eyes. "Don't tell me I'm dead…"
"No, you're not dead," the nurse looked down at him. "You're in my office, resting right now. You passed out, but luckily you woke up, and you can go home. Your wife is over there." she pointed to the chair where Haruhi was sleeping.
"She's supposed to be on bed rest, how did she get here?"
"I think I saw her with some car keys." the nurse said softly. "Poor dear was hysterical with worry."
Marcus sighed and walked over to her and gently shook her shoulder. "Babe?"
"Hmm?" Haruhi whispered, opening her eye a little. "Hey, are you ok? You didn't hit your head, did you?"
"No, I'm fine. Why did you drive? You're supposed to be in bed."
"I was worried about you," Haruhi said softly. "And your mom was going to come get you, but I left before she could get outside….I was scared that I lost you."
"No, I just passed out from being tired."
"Marcus...you're going home," Haruhi said quietly. "You need to lay down and rest; I'll take you home, ok? You can lie down, and I'll take care of you. You need sleep."
"Babe, we both need to rest," Marcus said softly. "I can't let you risk the twins to take care of me."
"Marcus, I'm your wife, I have to take care of you," Haruhi said. "And we'll all be fine, I'll take it easy, but I want to care for you first."
"Haruhi…" he smiled softly as he kissed her. "Let's go home."
END
